Ready to build up your own farm?
Plugo Farm from PlayShifu is truly the Facebook app game Farmville with a major upgrade. This augmented reality (AR) game combines physical, tactile play with a digital farming game. Kids can work with farmer Otis to build and manage their own digital farm using the real play pieces that come with the kit.
The kit comes with a Plugo Gamepad, which holds up your tablet in order to let kids have hands-on play without touching the screen. Kids can then use the included farm figures and items in order to move around the digital farm space and nurture animals, collect crops, and help customers in the market.
The kit comes with an Otis farmer figure, as well as sheep, cow, and chicken figures. It also includes different crops to grow, as well as farm essentials like feed, water, bathing, and tractor accessories. Kids will see which parts of the farm need tending to — and select the included sign to stick into the fence piece to travel there. Does the cow need to be fed? Stick the “Moo” sign into the fence and kids will jump to that section of the digital farm. Once the animals or crops have been tended to, kids can collect the inventory for the market — milk, eggs, vegetables, etc. — so that customers can come and buy things from farmer Otis.
Throughout this process, kids will learn how to manage inventory, solve problems, and plan, as well as hone their time management skills. The Plugo app lets caregivers select the correct grade-level for the kid that is playing, so that the tasks match where they are at. The pieces are big and chunky, so even little ones will be able to grab onto them and use them in order to play.
Plugo Farm is designed for kids ages 4 and up, and while it does encourage independent play, younger kids may need some help from grownups since the pieces’ placement depends on the camera being lined up and the pieces being in the correct place. A little guidance may be necessary in order to avoid any frustrations.
All-in-all, the game consists of more than 200 challenges for kids to work through, so there is plenty of play value packed inside one kit. Playshifu also offers additional kits that work with the Gamepad, including Plugo Link (building blocks), Plugo Tunes (music learning), Plugo Count (hands-on math), and Plugo Steer (navigation play).
Overall, Plugo Farm combines physical and digital play for a well-rounded, fun, and intuitive learning experience that kids will love coming back to over and over again.
